Decadent Coffee Cream Pie – Tastes like coffee smells!

You know how we each have a “thing” that we always have on hand or something that we always do that just makes our life infinitely nicer? Well one of my “things” is having coffee nips in my car. I have this little cubby under the armrest and if you open it up at any given time you’ll find a generous scattering of coffee nips at all times. What are coffee nips, you say? ~gasp~ they are this delicious little hard candy that tastes like coffee smells. You know what I’m talking about, right? That wonderful aroma of coffee, with a hint of cream and sweetness, that comes close to tasting like it smells but never quite lives up to what your nose expected? Coffee nips do. And guess what else? So does this Decadent Coffee Cream Pie!

I’m not saying that I buy Coffee Nips by the case, but I do have this in my guest bedroom/storage room.

I based this pie recipe off of my Lemon Meringue recipe. It took a little work and modifications to get it just right but now I have a pie I know you’ll love as much as I do!

I think this is my new birthday pie 🙂

Let’s get this coffee party started! You’ll need: Sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, instant coffee, eggs, butter, and a graham crust. You’re also going to need a touch of flour.

Wanna make your crust from scratch? Go for it! Wanna grab one in the store for a buck fifty like I did? More power to ya! No judgement on how you go about making this pie.

*Note on the instant coffee: You need enough for the equivalent of two cups. How much is that? Check the package of the instant coffee you have. It will tell you how much to add to a cup. Double that.

Common Sense Rabbit Trail: Guess what? This sweetened condensed milk I am using is “technically” expired. Am I using it any way? You better believe it! Without even blinking. Am I suggesting you use expired canned goods? No, I’m just suggesting you base your decisions on common sense rather than a stamped on date. Commercially canned goods, if the can is intact with no dents or signs of rust, have been proven to be good for years and years past their expiration dates. In fact, 100 year old canned food has been found and tested to show that it was still safe to consume, even though nutritional quality had deteriorated (Ie. not as many vitamins and minerals were present). But a lot of people see an expiration date and toss it, wasting perfectly good food.

So what do you do? Well, if a canned item is expired first inspect the can to ensure that it is intact. Then, open the can and use your best judgement. You have to do what you are comfortable with. Personally, I automatically double the shelf life in my mind. If a canned item says it is good for two years, I’m gonna give it four. Should you do this? Again, that is up to you. What I would like to encourage here is thinking for yourself and using common sense. Common sense is like a muscle present in your brain but it gets so little use these days and the human race is in danger of losing it entirely.

Another thing you should do is rotate your canned goods. First in, first out. When you buy an item, say a can of peaches, and go to put that in your pantry, if you see another can of peaches there, put the new can behind it so that you use the older can first. You see, I have sweetened condensed milk that isn’t expired right now, but I’m not going to use it today because I need to use this older can first. Makes sense, right?

If some of you are wondering “Why would you have more than one can of sweetened condensed milk in your pantry?” my answer is another question “Why would you only have one can if it is something you use on a regular basis?” Anytime I find that I am out of an ingredient I need, I don’t just buy what I need, I buy enough to give me a little surplus. Take canned tomatoes for instance. I use canned tomatoes a LOT. Probably a few cans each week. So, if I find that I am out of them, I will look for the best deal (usually at Aldi’s) and instead of just buying one can of tomatoes, I’ll buy twelve cans, thereby giving me about a month’s surplus of tomatoes. It helped that I paid about .30 cents less per can that if I had of bought them elsewhere so I got a surplus of tomatoes, saved myself a few future trips to the grocery store, and saved $3.60.

Make sure you don’t have any of the yolk (right) in with the white (left).

Place your ingredients in a sauce pot. Egg yolks (save the whites), butter, condensed milk, flour, and instant coffee. Put this over medium high heat and stir constantly until it comes to a little boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue stirring until it is thickened, about ten minutes altogether. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. If you forget to stir in the vanilla, no worries. It’ll still be fine.

I know it seems thick already but it will get thicker.

Pour into crust. Allow to cool slightly while you make your meringue.

Oh, please please please lick that spoon that you stirred the filling with as an omen of good things to come!

Make your meringue by placing your egg whites in a mixing bowl and beating the living mess out of it until it gets really good and foamy. Add in sugar and beat again until it looks like this.

It is always important to make sure your mixing bowl and beaters are SUPER SUPER clean when making a meringue. If there exist the slightest hint of grease or oil residue on them, your egg whites won’t whip like you want them to.

Spread your meringue over the top of your pie, being sure to spread it all the way to the edges so that it touches all around. This prevents the meringue from pulling back and shrinking while baking.

Place this in the oven at 325 for 15 minutes, or until the top is nice and golden brown.

Allow to cool slightly and then cover and place in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.

Coffee Cream Pie

Ingredients

2servings of instant coffeeenough to make two cups, check package directions for amount

regular size graham cracker crustnot deep dish

1teaspoonvanilla

1/4cupsugarfor meringue

Instructions

In medium sauce pot, combine butter, condensed milk, egg yolks, instant coffee, and flour. Stir this constantly over medium high heat until noticeably thicker, about ten minutes. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour into shell and set aside.

Place egg whites in clean bowl and beat with electric mixer until white and foamy. Add sugar. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Spoon over top of pie and spread to cover the top, making sure that meringue touches edges of pie crust all around to prevent shrinking while baking.

Bake at 325 for fifteen minutes, or until meringue is golden brown. Allow to cool and then cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled before serving.

COFFEE IN PIE!!!!! ty. O.O ok, I’ll calm down now. In your post just under the photos you say to add the eggs to the butter n stuff. I know you mean just the egg yolks and not the whites (it says it that way when you scroll down to the recipe) but I’m sure folks will go crazy asking. making this asap <3 u

1 tablespoon flour is listed twice – does the pie have 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour? This looks so good. I think I will make it to take to friends this weekend. They are making lasagna and I’m the designated dessert bringer!

I’m sorry. It’s just one. I have gone back and taken out the extra one. I’ve been sick all week and try as I may, it’s showing :).
Thank you for letting me know and I hope you love this pie as much as we do!

Oh, Christy – you don’t know how many times I’ve said, “I wish coffee tasted as good as it smells when it’s brewing!” : ) I have to doctor coffee up almost beyond recognition to drink it, but I can’t wait to give this recipe a try.

Just to clarify because I can’t stand the taste or smell of coffee, but I have friends and family that love it so will make this for them, you’re talking about two servings of the instant coffee granules, not the granules made up into actual coffee, correct?

Why was it necessary to specify so vehemently that you can’t stand the taste or smell of coffee when asking for a recipe clarification. It seems like a slap in the face to Christy, the generous recipe provider of this yummy sounding coffee pie that I intend to give a try. At any rate, if the recipe called for brewed coffee, it would include water as well as instant coffee.

My mother used to ALWAYS keep Coffee Nips handy when she was working on kicking the smoking habit. She and my dad – both BIG coffee drinkers – loved them anyway, and they just seemed to help with kicking smoking. I love coffee, but can’t quite get excited about these Nips, but when I saw them near the top of your post, I just started feeling nostalgic about them.
AND – unless both you and Brady have twins in Huntsville, I saw you leaving the Target in Jones Valley last Saturday! My daughter and I were getting out of our car when I first saw you and I thought that’s who you were…and then I thought, “Nah, can’t be them.” but as you walked past us I just knew it was! She asked me why I didn’t speak to you when I told her who you were and I told her that I was sure you’d like to be left alone to do your own thing and not have people gawking at you and interrupting your day. But it made my day!

Oh my gosh —you’ve been sick and still you managed to come up with this dreamy pie !!!
You really are blessed.
When I saw the Title & picture I just gasp & nearly forgot to let it out & breath again…… can’t wait to make this. So with ya on the canned goods story…. I believe in a pantry and a freezer… fill those things up & you’ll always have something to get you thru anything.
Thanks

Hope you are on the mend now…no more sicknesses, OK? Your recipe looks awesome, just like always!! I’ll need to make this for a church dinner so hubby can have one little piece (he loves him some coffee) and he won’t be tempted by the whole pie!! On the stocking up, I am so with you!! Of course, it is a 75+ mile (one way) trip to a big store for me, so I stock up like crazy when I do shop (like buying cases and cases of what we use a lot of)…and on the plus side, I actually end up spending less money – when I went to the grocery store every week, there were always those impulse buys that add up, or when you run in for just 1 or 2 things something else always jumps on that conveyor belt and those extra expenses really ruin your budget!! Less temptation to buy what I don’t really need always works for me!!

I LOVE coffee nips. I started taking piano lessons when I was 6 years old. My wonderful teacher, Mrs Alice Lusk, gave me a single coffee nip as a reward for playing a piece to her high expectations. Although she has been gone for years, the taste of Coffee Nips can bring back such previous memories even now, 46 years later. I can’t wait to try this recipe!!!

I cannot wait to make this pie.It looks sooooo good.Our house runs on cold brew iced coffee. I just made your key lime coconut sheet cake last night to go along with our crock pot chicken and dumplings, both were big hits.Thank you Christy. 🙂

This pie looks great! I have a question though… is that 1/4 stick of butter or 1/4 cup of butter? The picture looks more like a 1/2 stick which would be 1/4 cup. Maybe you’re sticks are bigger in the south than here in the North, ha ha 🙂 Thanks 🙂

Christy, I made this for an older neighbor she loved it! I’m not a coffee person but it smelled good. I need your help she wants a pineapple cream pie that her grandmother made during the depression. It was covered in meringue. I have found several recipes but none uses honey like she said her grandmother did. She said that during the depression this was what they got for their birthday. Do you anyone know of that you know of have this recipe using honey? She will be 89 on October 21st and I would love to give her this pie for her birthday! Thank you to anyone that helps me!

Christy, Help!!
In the Nov ’15 Taste of the South magazine you indicated we could get a couple of bonus recipes, Easy Pumpkin-Butterscotch Cake and No-Knead Yeast Rolls, by going in the magazines web site. I went in but but could not find the recipes. I could also not find them on the Southern Plate web site. How can I find these recipes? I know they would be good since they are from you. Thanks for ALL your great (and yummy) recipes.

I would use the type in the tub personally, as it is a bit more stable. However, the type in the can is yummier, just make sure you put it in the fridge right after adding it if you aren’t eating it right away. An even better option (best tasting) is homemade 🙂

This sounds delicious- pie plus coffee– mmm. Quick question though: if I were to top with cool whip instead would I still need to bake it at? I am thinking I want to make this for my birthday next month.

I wonder what it would be like if you added pecans! I’m not a pecan pie person buy but after reading the comments about Pecan Pie and coffee going so well together it seems this would make a great pie. Just a thought. I think I will try this pie just for fun.